[1665] in Depressing_Thoughts
wasted years
jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu Nov 15 12:13:37 1990
I came to the realization today while sitting in 6.002 lecture that,
academically speaking, most of my first two years at MIT were
completely wasted.
We're doing RLC circuits in 6.002; we did the same RLC stuff in 8.02,
but I remember none of it. RLC circuits involve first- and
second-order differential equations; we did first- and second-order
differential equations ad nauseum, until I should be able to solve
them in my sleep, in 18.03, and I remember none of it. To show that
mechanical and electrical systems are analogous, he drew a
spring-mass-damper diagram on the board and put up the equations for
it; we did that in 8.01 (or was it 8.02?), but I remember none of it.
He wrote sqrt(K/M) on the board and said, "Most of you will recognize
this as the [word I forget] constant of a mass/spring system," and I
didn't recognize it.
So what do I do now? Go back and take 8.02 and 18.03 over again, this
time paying attention so I actually learn the material instead of just
doing the problem sets, just like I'm doing with 6.002? Muddle
through the rest of my time at MIT without *really* understanding much
of what I do because I don't have the proper background to grasp
what's going on? I just don't know.
I went to Dean Randolph's office to make an appointment to talk to
him, because I feel very strongly the need to present this dilemma to
someone who's probably seen it before and get some feedback. The
earliest appointment I could make (they had Friday afternoons open,
but since sundown is around 4PM this time of year, Fridays are
impossible for me) is December 3. What am I supposed to do between
now and December 3, develop this bad feeling into full-fledged panic?
Sigh.
